Blog Post #5

1.  One character who has had their identity shaped by events in the story is Sofia.  It started when she met Otto in Colombia.  They could not be together because Otto lived in Germany, and Sofia lived in New York City.  Then Carlos, the father, found the love letters from Otto, and had a big fight with Sofia over them.  Sofia in a fit of rage, packed up her things and went to Germany, where she managed to get Otto to marry her.  After that, they had a daughter and moved to Michigan, where they had another kid, a boy, named Carlos.  The grandfather seemed happy with the son,  but after they played the kissing game, the father got and left after he figured out that Sofia was the one who gave him that open mouthed kiss in the ear.  These events shaped her identity because she was once the baby of the family, and now is considered by the father as the rebellious one, and now has a strained relationship with her father because her identity has changed so much.

2.  I think one thing that is positive in the story was when Yolanda returned to the Dominican Republic, in the beginning of the novel.  She was longing to return to the Dominican Republic because she felt disconnected from her roots, and wanted to revisit them after years in the United States away from her extended family.  It is positive because, even though it was not necessarily a good trip, she did revisit her roots and reconnect with her extended family again, and overall that was positive for Yolanda.  I would label this positivity as person to person, and person to self.  It is person to person because it was positive that she was able to see her family again and be with people she was once close with.  It is also person to self, because she was able to realize her old culture because she felt disconnected from the Dominican Republic, and for herself, she wanted to go back and be apart of her original culture and be with people that are like her.

3.  I feel that the Jeremy Lin is impressive for two reasons.  One is that he overcame many obstacles, and second is that he is the only asian-american player in the NBA right now.   I feel that the media attention he is getting is well-deserved, but, for me personally, it is getting to the point that every time that I turn on the television, there is a story about Jeremy Lin, and I am getting tired of the repeated stories that are continually being published about him.  I think that it is a great story, but I think the media has overblown it because he is an asian-american, and that nationality/ethnicity is very uncommon in the National Basketball Association.  Overall, it is not that I am not impressed with or the obstalces he has had to overcome on his way to, what is now, super-stardom, it is just that I feel that the attention he is getting overblown to ridiculous proportions because he is asian-american, which again, is very uncommon in the NBA.

M.I.A. and the Impossibility of selling out

I think that the term "selling out" is overused, because when it boils down to the bare facts, most celebrities, musicians, actors, etc., eventually sell out. Sure, a few people are passionate about a philanthropic cause, and that is alright, but most of the famous people sell out. They do not stay true to what they originally wanted to accomplish in life. M.I.A. is prime example because she was out of the spotlight for about three years, and then came back with Madonna and Nicki Minaj with a new song, and scandalously got her way back into the spotlight by "flipping the bird"on live television, during the most watched program of the year. I feel that that is selling out. The article is a mix of fact, and opinion because the author uses examples from past instances to present his case on why this could be considered a "sell out". Overall the author presented his case well, and was not bias in referring to anything outside the realm of the article.

Wiesel objects to Romney about posthumous proxy baptism

This article is mostly fact with possibly some opinion mixed in. The aspect about this article that interests me is that a former Nobel Peace Prize winner is objecting to who could be the next president of the United States. The issue of posthumous proxy baptism has been going on since 1995 and many have had problems with the ritualistic ceremony. I agree with the fact that mormons should not be performing ritualistic ceremonies on the dead. Especially those who are not even of there religion; to me, it is offensive, and inconsiderate to think that the family as a whole would want them to perform a ceremony, based on the grounds that someone in their family feels it is necessary to do the ceremony. One concept that this article makes me think about is the fact that people take religion extremely seriously. I understand if people need to believe that there is a higher power above them, and I am fine with that, and many other aspects of religion, the problem I have is that people feel that their own is superior to another, and to me, it causes many rifts and problems between not only families, but communities.

Person of Interest: Jeremy Lin

The final article is about a basketball star in the making.  An Asian-American named Jeremy Lin.  He has taken the not only the basketball world, but the entire world by storm, based on his statistics and his nationality.  I agree with the fact Jeremy Lin has made the Knicks not only the hottest ticket in town, but in teh basketball world.  This article is mostly fact related, but more based on the statistics of the situation.  Also, there is some opinion, mostly about how great he is, and how he will revolutize the hapless New York Knicks.  I think that this article is capturing the success of a "star in the making", and that is what most writers are doing at the moment because he is attracting that type of attention.  Overall, I would recommend this article to anyone who has an interest in sports, let alone basketball.  Jeremy Lin has captured the hearts and minds of many around the world, and maybe not just for the week, but for the season. 

Blog Post #3

In today's society we assume that all people are equal regardless of sex or gender, but the assumption is not very true.  In reality we expect men to be the breadwinners of the household and women to be in charge of the house/child rearing.  In the eyes of the other sex, men and women are perceived differently.  For most people I believe that it is based on how they were raised as opposed to having a pre-determined disposition.  So for most people I believe that their perception may be different (however slight), from another person, so it would be hard for me to determine what another person might think of the other sex because I would not know how they were raised.  I think that one advantage is that men might be more likely to receive a promotion over a woman, which is also a disadvantage for a woman.  I think that men have more of an advantage in the job world, but an advantage for women is that they usually will have more power in the household than their husband.  I think that one stereotype for men to women is that men might think that women might be looked at as housewives instead of career women.  Most times the stereotypes are negative towards women, though there are some negative stereotypes about men that women see.  Women might think that most men are unfaithful because that is the stereotype surrounding men.  Most stereotypes in general are negative about the other sex.
If Carlos, the father, were posed the question about the Alice in Chains pill, I think that he would say no because he thinks to highly of himself as the lone male of the family to put himself through that torture of hearing Alice in Chains for the rest of his life.  I think he would step up though, and take care of the mother, Mami, when she had her collarbones broken every three years.  Overall, I think that his ego may guide him to day no to the pill.

Blog Post #2

1.  For me this person would be more impressive than Albert Einstein because what he (the magician) would be able to do would defy anything Einstein ever worked on with physics, chemistry, etc.  Also Albert Einstein is dead, and I would be able to see the magician in live person as opposed to only admiring what Einstein did after he has passed.

2.  Though I would love to spare my soulmate the pain, I would not swallow the pill because this unfortunate incident would only occur once every three years, and I would not want to have to listen to Alice in Chains for the rest of my life.  I would only be torturing myself and those around me if I swallowed the pill.  It is unfortunate, but I would make it up to my soulmate the best as I can.

3.  While all three stories are incredibly interesting, I would have to choose the president possibly having thyroid cancer, because it would greatly affect the United States more than catching the Loch Ness monster, or catching a real Sasquatch.  Overall, the president possibly having thyroid cancer would be the biggest story because if affects an entire nation.

4.  I would give the wizard ten dollars because I do not want to spend a lot of money, and also I would not want to be noticeably more different, I would just want to have a more attractive quality about myself just suttle.  Overall it is really more about the money, but if I had to it would be ten dollars.

5.  No, I would not watch because I would want to enjoy the time I have with the 'Big 4' American sports than watching something I become eventually obsessed with 20 years in the future.  To me it would seem it would be inevitable that I become obsessed with CFL football so I mine as well watch something else before the obsession consumes me. 

6.  I would tell them that I was fell asleep as well.  I would tell them that I must have been sleepwalking because I was dreaming about fighting in UFC, and I was in the middle of the match, and I must have mistook my friend for being a UFC fighter by mistake of my sleep walking.  Then I would say I was sorry, and offer a parting shot to the friend on me so that technically we were even.

7.  As a fan, I would be more interested in seeing the big budget biopic about my life as opposed to the independent film.  That said, the movies are about me, so I, as the main character, would want to see the IFC fim because it states the facts, and it gives people's real opinions on me as opposed to a fabricated story with some parts left out, that may have altered  my life had they not happened.